Security

India: Police 'totally unprepared' in Mumbai terror attacks

Mumbai, 27 Nov. (AKI) - The Indian government was caught "totally unprepared" for the devastating terrorist attacks that have brought its financial capital, Mumbai, to a standstill, according to a senior journalist. Hussain Zaidi, an editor with the Indian daily, The Asian Age, spoke to Adnkronos International (AKI) from Mumbai where he was covering the attacks.

A curfew has been imposed in the city of Mumbai after a series of attacks on late Wednesday killed 101 people and injured 287 others.

"The whole of Mumbai is under siege," Zaidi said. "No-one can say that the country is safe."

The attackers, using grenades and automatic weapons, targeted at least seven sites in the main tourist and business district, including two luxury hotels.

Police told local television that the siege at the Taj Mahal Hotel - one of Mumbai's landmark hotels - had ended, but others were reportedly still being held hostage at the nearby Oberoi hotel.

Hussain Zaidi said he had witnessed widespread devastation after the attacks in which he said militants were "lobbying hand grenades at foreigners", targeting British and American tourists.

"I am angry at the Indian enforcement agencies," Zaidi told AKI. "They were caught napping. They were totally unprepared."

Zaidi said as many as 40 to 50 terrorists were involved in the attacks and he was appalled that police and other enforcement agencies did not know about the attacks that would have required a great deal of planning.

"How could they manage to do such a thing inside these hotels without anyone knowing about it?" he said. "The whole of Mumbai is under siege. No-one can say that the country is safe."